John J. Pershing

John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing (13 September 1860-15 July 1948) was a general of the United States who saw action in the Philippine-American War, Mexican Expedition, and World War I and became the commander of the American Expeditionary Force. As his nickname suggests, Pershing was not popular with his troops, appearing distant and reserved. He was emotionally numbed by the death of his wife and three children in a house fire in 1915.

Biography
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Pershing was its most experienced officer. He had seen action from the Plains Indian Wars through the Spanish-American War and the Philippine insurrection to a recent punitive expedition against Pancho Villa's Mexicans. However, this was not necessarily useful preparation for leading a mass army on the Western Front as commander of the American Expeditionary Force.

Costly Strategy
Pershing's first division arrived in France in June 1917. Determined to lead an independent American army, he would not allow his men to be assigned to the front under British or French command. He relaxed this policy when the German Spring Offensive of 1918 threatened to win the war, American troops supporting the French at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood in early June.

Pershing's chance to lead a US army into battle came at St. Mihiel in September 1918, followed rapidly by the larger-scale Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He flung his men forward into machine-gun fire and failed to coordinate artillery with infantry, just as Allied generals had done earlier in the war, with the same result. After six weeks of fighting, the Americans eventually achieved victory in the Meuse-Argonne operation, but at a cost of over 120,000 casualties. Pershing disagreed with the granting of an armistice to Germany, believing that the war should have been continued until military victory was complete.